St. John’s drops heartbreaker to Georgetown, 97-94

St. John’s had leads, they had chances, but once again, the Red Storm fall to the rival Georgetown Hoyas by the score of 97-94. St. John’s led by as many as nine in the second half, but, after getting the game to overtime with a last-m,inute layup, shot 1/7 in the overtime period.

St. John’s drops to 5-3, 0-2 in the Big East. Georgetown improves to 3-3, 1-1 in the Big East.

St. John’s was led by Isaih Moore’s 26 points and 14 rebounds — seven offensive. Posh Alexander scored 16 and handed out six assists before fouling out late in overtime. Julian Champagnie and Greg Williams Jr. had 13 each; Williams had five assists and three steals in the effort, while Champagnie added 12 rebounds (10 defensive)

Georgetown was led by freshman Dante Harris’ breakout performance of 21 points; Jahvon Blair had 22, Donald Carey added 19 and Qudus Wahab had 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks.

Next up for St. John’s is a 5pm home game against the Creighton Bluejays on Thursday. They will face Georgetown next Sunday in Queens.

Early on, Georgetown’s Qudus Wahab, the big center, drew touches and shots, and it looked like it would be another battering in the paint by the Hoyas. But a strong stretch from Posh Alexander and Julian Champagne put the Red Storm back on track. Alexander in particular, was fast to the offensive rim, solid in his drives, and made the Hoyas account for him.

Arnoldo Toro jumped into the fray and added three offensive rebounds — helping to set the tone for the Red Storm, who grabbed 10 more offensive rebounds, and 10 more shots than Georgetown in the half. But on the other side, Siena transfer Donald Carey got some shots off from outside the arc, and freshman Dante Harris, starting in the place of Jalen Harris, was strong with the ball and confident on his way to 10 points.

St. John’s was down 2 points at the break, despite shooting far worse than the Hoyas — 50% beyond the arc and 62% inside the arc by Georgetown, and 25% beyond the arc and 42% inside for the Storm. The Johnnies got to the line frequently, and were keeping it close.

The Hoyas would not fold as they did against Villanova in the second half, however. So despite a 15-4 start to the second half, and a collection of turnovers by both team (including two offensive fouls committed by Red Storm players), the Hoyas fought back. The freshmen led the way again, with Harris being joined by TJ Berger, a guard who was slated to go to UPenn before decommitting.

But St. John’s had activated Isaih Moore in the gaps near the basket in Georgetown’s defense... and he dunked on them five times. An 8-0 run, powered by pressure, but the Red Storm up with two and a half minutes left to play, but nothing comes easy in a high-paced game between these two squads.

Inbounding against Georgetown pressure forced mistakes; an interaction between Vince Cole and Posh Alexander to break the press resulted in a game-tying three. The Hoyas took the lead with under a minute left as Jahvon Blair nailed a stepback trey over Julian Champagnie.

But nothing comes easy between these two squads.

Dante Harris fouled Alexander on the inbounds, and Alexander splits the free throws, tying the game. On the following play, Georgetown’s Jahvon Blair lost control of the ball, but the Johnnies could not come up with the ball in the scramble. Donald Carey emerged, drove to the rim and his layup should have been the winning basket with six seconds left.

But nothing comes easy between these two...

Posh Alexander inbounded the ball to Greg Williams Jr. under the basket, who turned around and put in the tying layup to tie the game at 88.

St. John’s looked good for the first minutes of overtime; Posh Alexander’s quickness earned free throws. He split the pair of attempts.

Then a missed Hoya jumper was rebounded by Wahab, who dunked it, and Carey drew a foul — getting tripped by Alexander — to give Georgetown the lead. A long jump shot missed with under 30 seconds left, and after a pair of Dante Harris free throws, St. John’s was down by three.

After a free throw by the Red Storm, Qudus Wahab blocked his ninth shot to seal the game.

Note

Five Red Storm players logged over 30 minutes; Josh Roberts, David Caraher, John McGriff did not play.